How Do I choose a Plastic Surgeon? Is Plastic Surgery Safe?

Considering facial plastic surgery is a choice and anything elective involving our faces must be accomplished without issues time and time again.

Ensuring competence and safety is not difficult today, and this discussion should provide the necessary information to make someone comfortable that they start the plastic surgery process correctly.

In choosing a plastic surgery doctor, the two crucial pieces of information are to clearly understand what you want as your result and how the physician is trained.

Today there are many different types of plastic surgery doctors who perform cosmetic procedures.  A good plastic surgery doctor often indicates to potential patients what would be appropriate to do vs. what does not make sense.

There are two main types of plastic surgeons: general plastic surgeons and facial plastic surgeons. Their expertise is dictated by how they are trained.

There are two aspects of training after medical school: residency, which is usually many years, and then a fellowship, which is shorter but also final specialization occurs.

The majority of a facial plastic surgeon’s training is during their residency, which is in otolaryngology/head and neck surgery, or, in other words, all the medical and surgical problems in the head and neck.  They then do a fellowship that specializes in only facial plastic surgery, which is the cosmetic and reconstructive treatment of the head and neck.

So discussing a tummy tuck with a facial plastic surgeon is not logical.

A general plastic surgeon usually completes their residency in general surgery, which today is abdominal and breast surgery, and they then do a fellowship in all aspects of plastic surgery, including hand surgery and burns, as well as cosmetic and reconstructive procedures.

These doctors are the experts of breast and body plastic surgery.

Today, dermatologists often offer many cosmetic procedures.  Their training is the medical field of dermatology and they are the experts of the skin.

As you can see, there are multiple specialties that may overlap in their training that can accomplish cosmetic treatments of the face and often the plastic surgery doctor’s training will dictate what cosmetic procedures they could offer and what they would be best at.  And always make sure you find out if the doctor is trained appropriately and board certified in their specific field.  A dermatologist, a facial plastic surgeon and a general plastic surgeon will all be board certified by different boards, but they should always be board certified. Then concentrate on the results they produce.

Today, even with the amount of marketing done, other sources such as magazine articles, the Internet and even “best doctor lists” are not a foolproof source.

If you see the plastic surgeon’s results and you like what you see, that’s most likely what you are going to get.  If you don’t like what you see, that’s most likely what you are going to get.

Everyone should feel confident that his or her procedure will be accomplished safely.  As chairman of the Committee on Patient Safety and Accreditation for the AAFPRS, I take this very seriously and want to ensure there are simple steps to ensuring everyone is in an appropriate environment for their procedure:

First, is the facility that the cosmetic or plastic surgery procedure being done in accredited?  Accreditation is mandatory by AAFPRS and ASPRS, as it ensures that your plastic surgery doctor is board certified, has had a hospital review, is appropriate to be performing type of procedure and that the facility has all the appropriate equipment for monitoring, safety and emergencies.  In addition, accreditation ensures that appropriate anesthesia and nursing personnel are always utilized for every procedure. Lastly, it also ensures that there is peer review or oversight in what occurs at that facility.

This is similar to the Good Housekeeping seal of approval.

In certain states, such as Connecticut, any facility that uses anesthesia must also be state licensed. This is another layer of certainty that reinforces that the plastic surgery facility is safe on every level—that the doctor and anesthesia care are appropriate and that the outcomes are made public.

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